Honourable Minister,

Our esteemed members,

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen,

Esteemed Members of the Press,

I greet you all with respect and affection.

I express my gratitude to our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mr. Adil Karaismailoğlu for honouring our program and our MÜSİAD with his presence.

I thank you, our esteemed members, and the esteemed members of the press for your participation.

Welcome to our consultation meeting on “The Transport and Infrastructure Vision in the Century of Türkiye”; you have honoured us.

Honourable Minister, esteemed guests,

The geopolitical position of Türkiye, where civilizations intersect, where cultures and nations meet and which is the crossroads of ancient and modern trade routes, makes every type of transport in this geography strategic.

In order to make moves and to develop in every field, from education to tourism, from industry to trade, from culture to sport, you need to shorten the long, narrow roads; in short, you need to convey people and products safely.

The transport and infrastructure policy implemented over the last twenty years has been one of the leading factors in our country's possessing a strong economy.

The enormous investments in road, sea, air and rail transport have both developed our economy and provided the opportunity to make very substantial savings

Particularly in the last twenty years, in which we have covered serious ground in safe and comfortable transport, accidents and the loss of life connected with these accidents have decreased significantly.

Merely stating the point reached in aviation is enough for us to see what kind of revolution has been carried out in transport: while the number of active airports in 2002 was 26, today it has reached 57; the air terminal capacity, which was 55 million, has reached 334.7 million; and the total number of international flight destinations, which was 60, has reached 342.

Entering the hundredth year of our Republic and welcoming the Century of Türkiye with such enormous moves in transport and infrastructure is truly exciting.

Honourable Minister, esteemed guests,

Boring through mountains and building modern tunnels, passing roads beneath the sea, building bridges over the straits, weaving the country together with high-speed trains; in short, conveying the good people of our heavenly homeland safely to their loved ones and to their work, is not an easy task at all.

As the late Abdurrahim Karakoç said, “The roads are long, the roads are narrow, // The road grows short when love arrives.”

The matter is somewhat one of being in love with these lands and with our dear nation and of burning with the passion of service. The matter is one of believing, of focusing on ideals, of being able to carry dreams even beyond memories.

For 33 years our MÜSİAD has been going on its way with just this love and passion. MÜSİAD, which draws strength from the discernment and the prudence of our nation and takes as its guide values kneaded with the abundance, the mercy and the courage of Anatolia, continues to contribute to our country's economy with its 165 branches and contact points at home and abroad, its more than 13 thousand members and its more than 60 thousand companies.

Under the leadership of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we strive to run, to speak and to work day and night, as one and together, so that the Century of Türkiye may begin in every field.

With these feelings and thoughts, I once again greet your honourable assembly with respect and affection. I express my gratitude to you, our esteemed guests, and to our Honourable Minister for honouring us with your presence.

Stay well.

May God protect you.

Mahmut Asmalı

President of MÜSİAD